10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014

LONDON -- The�FTSE 100�set a five-and-a-half-year record of 6,638 points last Friday, and though the index is down from that today at 6,617, it still looks like hanging on to the 6,600 level -- even if that absolute value is ultimately meaningless. The top-tier index is also set to record its sixth successive close above 6,500 today, barring any afternoon slump. Recent levels are a far cry from the FTSE's 52-week low of just 5,230 points, set on June 1, 2012.

Which of the U.K.'s major companies are helping push up the FTSE? Here are three reaching new highs of their own today:

GlaxoSmithKline
Shares in pharmaceuticals giant and�Beginners' Portfolio�member�GlaxoSmithKline� (LSE: GSK  ) (NYSE: GSK  ) are up nearly 20% over the past 12 months, having hit a 52-week high of 1,692 pence today -- though as I write, the price is back a penny from that on 1,691 pence.

Despite the effect of the "patent cliff" when drug protection expires, and threats from generic competition, Glaxo has keep earnings up and there's a modest rise expected for the year to December -- the firm appears to be managing its expansion into new biotechnology areas reasonably well. The P/E is around the FTSE average of 14 even after the rise, and we have a nice dividend yield of 4.7% forecast for 2013.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III(PZC)

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. Its investment portfolio include California municipal bonds, and other municipal bonds and notes; California variable rate notes and other variable rate notes; California variable rate demand notes and other variable rate demand notes; U.S. treasury bills; and call options written and put options written. Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC serves as an investment Manager to the fund. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund III was formed in 2002 and is based in New York City.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Qualstar Corporation(QBAK)

Qualstar Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells automated magnetic tape libraries used to store, retrieve, and manage electronic data primarily in network computing environments worldwide. Its tape libraries consists of cartridge tape drives, tape cartridges, and robotics to move the cartridges from their storage locations to the tape drives under software control. The tape libraries also provide data storage solutions for organizations requiring backup, recovery, and archival storage of critical electronic information. The company also offers ancillary products related to its tape libraries, such as tape media, tape magazines, cables, bar code labels, and fiber channel adapters. In addition, it designs, develops, and sells switching power supplies that are used to convert alternate current line voltage to direct current voltages for use in electronic equipment, such as telecommunications equipment, servers, routers, switches, lighting, and gaming devices. Qualstar Corporation sells its tape drive products primarily to value added resellers and original equipment manufacturers, as well as switching power supplies primarily to original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, and distributors. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Simi Valley, California.

Top Oil Stocks To Buy For 2014: Gentiva Health Services Inc.(GTIV)

Gentiva Health Services, Inc. provides home health services and hospice care in the United States. The company offers skilled nursing and therapy services, paraprofessional nursing services, and homemaker services primarily to adult and elderly patients through licensed and Medicare-certified agencies. It also provides its services through specialty programs comprising Gentiva Orthopedics, which offers individualized home orthopedic rehabilitation services to patients recovering from joint replacement or other major orthopedic surgery; Gentiva Safe Strides that provides therapies for patients with balance issues; and Gentiva Cardiopulmonary, which helps patients and their physicians manage heart and lung health in a home-based environment. In addition, the company offers services through Gentiva Neurorehabilitation, which helps patients who have experienced a neurological injury or condition by removing the obstacles to healing in the patient?s home; Gentiva Senior Health that addresses the needs of patients with age-related diseases and issues; and Rehab Without Walls unit, which provides neurorehabilitation therapies for patients with traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular accident injury, and acquired brain injury. Further, it offers consulting services to home health agencies, which include operational support, billing and collection activities, and on-site agency support and consulting. Additionally, the company provides hospice services primarily in the patient?s home or other residence, such as an assisted living residence or nursing home, as well as in a hospital. Gentiva Health Services, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Last week, we saw home-health sector stocks like Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED  ) and Gentiva Health Solutions (NASDAQ: GTIV  ) get clobbered because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommended a 1.5% reduction in Medicare reimbursements each year between 2014 and 2017. With Amedisys and Gentiva reliant on Medicare for more than 80% and 90% of their revenue, respectively, it could put hospitals that rely on government reimbursements in a growth bind.�

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: UFP Technologies Inc.(UFPT)

UFP Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design and manufacture of engineered packaging solutions for medical and scientific, automotive, aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, industrial, and consumer markets. The company offers packaging products primarily using polyethylene, polyurethane, cross-linked polyethylene foams, and rigid plastics. Its packaging products include end-cap packs for computers, corner blocks for telecommunications consoles, anti-static foam packs for printed circuit boards, die-cut or routed inserts for cases, molded foam enclosures for orthopedic products, and plastic trays for medical devices and components. UFP Technologies also fabricates and molds component products made from cross-linked polyethylene foam and other materials, as well as engages in laminating fabrics and other materials to cross-linked polyethylene foams, polyurethane foams, and other substrates. The company?s component products include automo tive interior trim, athletic padding, industrial safety belts, medical device components, air filtration, high-temperature insulation, abrasive nail files and other beauty aids, anti-fatigue mats, and shock absorbing inserts used in athletic and leisure footwear. It sells its products primarily under United Foam, Simco Automotive, and Molded Fiber brand names through direct sales force, independent manufacturer representatives, and distributors. The company was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Georgetown, Massachusetts.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD)

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. supplies networking equipment comprising end-to-end Internet protocol based Ethernet and storage area networking solutions. Its Data Storage segment provides infrastructure products and solutions, including directors, switches, routers, fabric-based software applications, distance/extension products, management applications, and utilities to centralize data management; and host bus adapters, converged network adapters, mezzanine cards, and switch modules for bladed servers. The company?s Ethernet Products segment offers Open Systems Interconnection Reference Model (OSI) Layer 2-3 switches and routers, which enable the use of bandwidth-intensive network business applications and digital entertainment on local area networks and wide area networks; and OSI Layer 4?7 switches that allow enterprises and service providers to build network infrastructures to direct the flow of traffic, and file area network products and associated management s olutions. The company?s Global Services segment provides break/fix maintenance, extended warranty, installation, consulting, network management, and related software maintenance and support services; consulting and support services that assist customers in designing, implementing, deploying, and managing networking solutions; and post-contract customer support and extended warranties. It serves various businesses and organizations, which include global enterprises and service providers, such as telecommunication firms, cable operators, and mobile carriers. The company has a strategic partnership with LG-Ericsson. It offers its products and services to end-user customers directly, and through various distribution partners comprising original equipment manufacturers, distributors, systems integrators, and value-added resellers in the United States, western Europe, Japan, and the greater Asia Pacific region. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in San Jose, Cali fornia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Brocade Communications Systems Inc.(BRCD) raised its stock buyback program to $1 billion from $308 million, as the company cited confidence in generating greater cash flow as well as its long-term business prospects. Shares rose 3.8% premarket to $8.49.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  The biggest new holdings are McGraw-Hill Financial�and industrial machinery specialist Gardner Denver. Other new holdings of interest include Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYSE: KOG  ) and Brocade Communications Systems (NASDAQ: BRCD  ) . Kodiak recently bought 42,000 acres in the productive Bakken region, upping its assets there by 27%, and adding thousands of new barrels of oil to its production levels. Bulls love Kodiak's rapid growth and see more room to grow. Bears worry that it might be too focused on the Bakken and not sufficiently diversified.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Transocean Inc.(RIG)

Transocean Ltd. provides offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells worldwide. It offers deepwater and harsh environment drilling, oil and gas drilling management, and drilling engineering and drilling project management services. The company also offers well and logistics services. In addition, it engages in oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities primarily in the United States offshore Louisiana and Texas, and in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea. As of February 10, 2011, the company owned, had partial ownership interests in, and operated 138 mobile offshore drilling units, including 47 high-specification floaters, 25 midwater floaters, 9 high-specification jackups, 54 standard jackups, and 3 other rigs, as well as 1 ultra-deepwater floater and 3 high-specification jackups under construction. Transocean Ltd. was founded in 1953 and is based in Zug, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By P.I.A.]

  Of its Ultra-deepwater units (greater than 5,000 feet depth), the company currently has three semi-submersible rigs that are capable of use in water to 10,000 feet, and total depth of 30,000 feet. All of them have been located in Brazil and used by Petrobas (West Taurus, owned by Ship Finance; West Eminence; and West Orion). Several drill ships for use in 12,000 feet of water, and total depths to 40,000 feet, are under construction and scheduled to be available in 2014. New ultra-deepwater floating equipment is expected to perform better and be safer, in consideration of Transocean's (RIG) Deepwater Horizon Incident, which has ongoing implications.

• [By Taylor Muckerman and Joel South]

  Shareholders of Transocean (NYSE: RIG  ) should be busy this weekend reading up on how the two proposed dividends could affect the company financially and about the backgrounds of the nominees to the Board of Directors. Each of these decisions will likely weigh heavily on the future outlook of Transocean which resides in a competitive and growing industry.��

• [By Tom Stoukas]

  Transocean Ltd (RIG), the world�� largest supplier of offshore oil rigs, posted the biggest gain on the SMI, rising 1.4 percent to 41.26 francs.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Magic Software Enterprises Ltd.(MGIC)

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. develops, markets, and supports software development and deployment technology and applications. It offers uniPaaS, an application platform for developing and deploying business applications; and iBOLT, a platform for business and process integration. The company?s uniPaaS and iBOLT platforms enable enterprises to accelerate the process of building and deploying applications to customize and integrate with existing systems. It also provides information technology (IT) professional services in the areas of infrastructure design and delivery, application development, and technology planning and implementation services, as well as supplemental staffing services. In addition, the company offers consulting services in connection with installation assurance, application audits and performance enhancement, application migration, and application prototyping and design; maintenance contracts; technical support; and training on its development tools. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides its products and services through a network of regional offices, independent software vendors, system integrators, distributors, and value added resellers, as well as through original equipment manufacturers and consulting partners in approximately 50 countries worldwide. It serves finance, insurance, government, health care, logistics, manufacturing media, retail, and telecommunications industries. The company was formerly known as Mashov Software Export (1983) Ltd. and changed its name to Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. in 1991. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Or Yehuda, Israel. Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. is a subsidiary of Formula Systems (1985) Ltd.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Skechers U.S.A. Inc.(SKX)

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. engages in the design, development, marketing, and distribution of footwear for men, women, and children in the United States and internationally. The company offers various products comprising casuals, such as boots, shoes, and sandals for men, as well as slip-ons, lug outsole and fashion boots, and casual sandals for women; dress casuals; relaxed fit for men; sandals; and casual fusion under the Skechers USA brand name. It also provides a line of sport footwear for men and women, including men?s lifestyle athletic footwear, lightweight women?s sneakers, and sport sandals under the Skechers Sport brand name. In addition, the company offers men?s and women?s casuals, field boots, hikers, and athletic shoes under the Skechers Work brand name; and a range of infants, toddlers, boys, and girls? boots, shoes, and sneakers under the Skechers Kids brand name. Further, its product line includes Skechers Active products, such as casual everyday and sport fusi on sneakers for females; Tone-ups and Tone-ups Fitness products comprising casual and athletic-inspired sandals for women, as well as sneakers; Shape-ups toning footwear for men and women; and Skechers Resistance Runner technical shoes for runners. Skechers U.S.A. markets its products through department and specialty stores, athletic and independent retailers, and boutiques, catalog and Internet retailers, as well as through own e-commerce Website and retail stores. As of February 15, 2011, it operated 105 concept stores, 99 factory outlet stores, and 40 warehouse outlet stores in the United States, as well as 28 concept stores and 16 factory outlets internationally. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Associated Press]

  Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed criminal and civil charges against fired KPMG partner Scott London for conspiracy to commit securities fraud through insider trading. The 24-page affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that London, 50, of Agoura Hills, Calif., provided confidential information about KPMG clients Herbalife (NYSE: HLF  ) , Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX  ) , Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK  ) , RSC Holdings, and Pacific Capital to Bryan Shaw, a close friend, from late 2010 until last month. Prosecutors allege that Shaw made more than $1.2 million in illicit profits by trading in advance of company announcements on earnings results or mergers.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: CSP Inc.(CSPI)

CSP Inc. engages in the development and marketing of information technology (IT) integration solutions and high-performance cluster computer systems to industrial, commercial, and defense customers worldwide. The company operates in two segments: Systems, and Service and System Integration. The Systems segment designs and manufactures specialty, high-performance computer signal processing systems for the aerospace and defense markets. These systems are used on land, and in airborne and shipboard platforms for high-speed digital signal processing in radar, sonar, and surveillance applications. The Service and System Integration segment consists of the computer maintenance and integration services, and third-party computer hardware and software value added reseller businesses. It also provides professional IT consulting services, including maintenance and technical support; implementation, integration, configuration, and installation services; enterprise security intrusion p revention, network access control, and unified threat management services; IT security compliance services; custom software applications and solutions development and support; and monitoring, reporting, and management of alerts for the resolution and preventive general IT and IT security support tasks. This segment offers its solutions and services for IT environments, including storage and servers, unified communications solutions, IT security solutions, and consulting services. The company markets its products and services through direct sales force, distributors, and resellers. CSP Inc. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts.

10 Best Penny Stocks For 2014: Flanigan's Enterprises Inc.(BDL)

Flanigan's Enterprises, Inc. operates a chain of full-service restaurants and package liquor stores in south Florida. It operates restaurants under Flanigan?s Seafood Bar and Grill name, which offers alcoholic beverages and full food services; and package liquor stores under Big Daddy?s Liquors name that provides brand name and private label liquors, beer, and wines. As of April 2, 2011, the company operated 24 units that consists of restaurants, package liquor stores, and combination restaurants/package liquor stores; 1 adult entertainment club; and franchised 5 units comprising 1 restaurant and 4 combination restaurants/package liquor stores. Flanigan's Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.